Faiths Still Unknown

Faith in a higher good is one of the most powerful forces on earth, whether in the name of God and religion, or expressed through a secular approach. Ultimately, all paths point to the omnipresence of the Divine, for the same Light of Truth that illumines all the religions is the wellspring of all other paths as well.

The quest for the Truth takes myriad forms. People seek it through faith in the grandeur of nature; through faith in humanity and the nobility of service; through faith in art, education, and social and political ideologies; through faith in science, philosophy and psychology; and through faith in any uplifting path followed with a pure heart.

As with the world’s religions, these secular paths are diverse; at their core, however, they are one in humanity’s universal desire for true and lasting peace and happiness. Whenever we seek the higher good in ourselves and in others, the result is the same: greater peace, unity, and harmony.

In addition to all the known religious paths are the approaches throughout creation as yet unknown to us. Wherever beings purify themselves and thus allow the Divine Light to express through them, our homage is to them and their great faiths which are one with all others in essence.

LOTUS also honors those faiths still unknown. The symbol (at LOTUS and also represented in the All Faiths Yantra) chosen to represent the faiths and wisdom paths yet unknown is the unfilled circle. LOTUS is truly a model for the precept, “Truth is One, Paths are Many and it is unique in the world for being the most inclusive shrine ever constructed in the world.

Flag with an unfilled circle, a symbol representing other faiths and spiritual paths not yet known.

“Mathematics, rightly viewed, possesses not only truth, but a supreme beauty—a beauty cold and austere, like that of sculpture.” —Bertrand Russell

“Art class was like a religious ceremony to me. I would wash my hands carefully before touching paper or pencils. The instruments of work were sacred objects to me.” —Joan Miro

“Does a bird need to theorize about building it’s nest, or boast of it when built? All good work is essentially done that way: without hesitation; without difficulty; without boasting.” —John Ruskim

“Everybody can be great. Because anybody can serve….You only need a heart full of grace, a soul generated by love.” —Martin Luther King, Jr.

“In spite of everything I still believe that people are really good at heart….I can feel the suffering of millions and yet, if I look up into the heavens, I think that it will all come right.” —Anne Frank

“The same stream of life, that runs through my veins night and day, runs through the world and dances in rhythmic measures….My pride is from the life-throb of ages dancing in my blood this moment.” —Rabindranath Tagore

“Happiness is the only good. The place to be happy is here. The time to be happy is now. The way to be happy is to help make others so.” —Robert Green Ingersoll

“You cannot hope to build a better world without improving the individuals. To that end each of us must work for his own improvement and at the same time share a general responsibility for all humanity.” —Marie Curie

“Nations are the wealth of mankind, its collective personalities; the very least wears its own special colours and bears within itself a special facet of divine intention.” —Alexander Solzhenitsyn

“We discovered that education is not something which the teacher does, but that it is a natural process which develops spontaneously in the human being.” —Marie Montessori

“We learn by practice. Whether it means to learn to dance by practicing or to learn to live by practicing living, the principles are the same….One becomes in some area an athlete of God.” —Martha Graham